College Football: Purdue Routs Second-Ranked Ohio State

Purdue 49, 2 Ohio State 20

D .J. Knox rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns, David Blough threw for three more scores and host Purdue shook up the college football playoff chase with a 49-20 blowout of No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday.

The Boilermakers (4-3, 3-1 Big Ten) won their fourth straight over all, their second in a row over a ranked team, and pulled off their biggest upset since taking down then-No. 2 Ohio State 28-23 on Oct. 6, 1984. Purdue also set a school record for points scored against the Buckeyes, besting the previous mark of 41 in 1967.

Mistake-prone Ohio State (7-1, 4-1) had its 12-game winning streak snapped, fell out of the Big Ten East lead behind rival Michigan and now must fight away its way back into playoff position.

Blough outplayed Dwayne Haskins Jr. on a night the Buckeyes didn’t reach the end zone until early in the fourth quarter. Blough went 25 of 43 with 378 yards and sealed the victory with a 43-yard pass to Rondale Moore with 3:37 to play. It was Blough’s third straight 300-yard game and his fourth this season.

25 Washington State 34, 12 Oregon 20

Gardner Minshew threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Dezmon Patmon in the back of the end zone with 3:40 left and No. 25 Washington State beat No. 12 Oregon 34-20.

The host Cougars (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) capped one of the biggest days in program history by taking control of the North Division race. Washington State hosted ESPN’s “College Gameday” and later celebrated its fourth straight victory over Oregon (6-1, 3-1).

Minshew was 39 of 51 for 323 yards and four touchdowns.

Down 27-0 at the half, Oregon pulled to 27-20 on Adam Stack’s 23-yard field goal with 6:38 left. The Cougars got a huge play on the next drive from Travell Harris when he stole a pass from Oregon’s Jevon Holland for a 37-yard gain into Oregon territory. Minshew then hit Harris for 11 yards to convert fourth-and-6 and, two plays later, Minshew hit Patmon for the touchdown that finally put away the Ducks.

5 Louisiana State 19, 22 Mississippi St. 3

Michael Divinity Jr.’s interception set up Nick Brossette’s short touchdown run, Cole Tracy kicked four field goals, and No. 5 Louisiana State beat No. 22 Mississippi State 19-3.

Still, the Tiger Stadium crowd left angry after L.S.U.’s top linebacker, Devin White, was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter, meaning he will not be eligible to play in the first half of the Tigers’ coming showdown with unbeaten and top-ranked Alabama.

White appeared to lower his head as he leveled quarterback Nick Fitzgerald a moment after he released a pass that was intercepted by defensive back Kristian Fulton. The targeting penalty wiped out the turnover, and L.S.U.’s celebrations also drew two flags for unsportsmanlike conduct, resulting in 45 yards in penalties on one play.

John Battle’s interception prevented Mississippi State from scoring on the drive and virtually sealed the result. But fans continued booing officials until the end, keenly aware of how much the absence of White, even for just a half, could hurt the Tigers (7-1, 4-1 S.E.C.) against Crimson Tide’s dynamic and prolific offense.

White’s penalty was the low point of an otherwise banner performance by the Tigers’ defense, which intercepted Fitzgerald four times.

10 Central Florida 37, East Carolina 10

Darriel Mack Jr. stepped in for McKenzie Milton and rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown, and No. 10 Central Florida forced five turnovers in beating host East Carolina 37-10 for its 20th straight victory.

Nate Evans returned a fumble 94 yards for a momentum-changing touchdown with 10:07 left, Greg McCrae added a 74-yard touchdown run and the Knights (7-0, 4-0 American Athletic Conference) turned all those takeaways into 24 points.

6 Michigan 21, 24 Michigan State 7

Shea Patterson threw two touchdown passes, and No. 6 Michigan earned a desperately needed victory at No. 24 Michigan State on Saturday, ending a streak of 17 losses to ranked teams on the road.

The Wolverines (7-1, 5-0 Big Ten) had lost eight of 10 against their in-state rival, and those setbacks had kept them from winning a Big Ten title since 2004.

The Spartans (4-3, 2-2) struggled to move the ball. They were held to 94 yards and did not convert any of their 12 third downs.

Patterson’s 79-yard pass to Donovan Peoples-Jones put Michigan ahead late in the third quarter. He converted on fourth-and-2 from the Michigan State 41 early in the fourth, setting up a 5-yard run by Ben Mason that gave the Wolverines a 21-7 lead.

Patterson, an Ole Miss transfer, completed 14 of 25 passes for 212 yards.

1 Alabama 58, Tennessee 21

Tua Tagovailoa threw touchdown passes to four receivers as Alabama started fast again in a 58-21 victory over host Tennessee.

Alabama (8-0, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) had touchdowns on its first four possessions while outscoring Tennessee 28-0 and outgaining the Volunteers 217-6 in the opening period. Alabama has outscored opponents 165-31.

Tagovailoa went 19 of 29 for 306 yards before leaving midway through the third quarter with Alabama ahead 51-14. He took a big hit on his final play of the day, a 51-yard touchdown pass to Henry Ruggs III. Earlier, Tagovailoa connected on touchdown passes to Jerry Jeudy, Jaylen Waddle and Irv Smith Jr.

3 Clemson 41, 16 North Carolina State 7

Trevor Lawrence threw for a career-high 308 yards, Travis Etienne rushed for three touchdowns and No. 3 Clemson turned an Atlantic Coast Conference showdown with visiting No. 16 North Carolina State into a 41-7 rout.

The Tigers (7-0, 4-0) opened with seven straight wins for the third time in four seasons in topping the Wolfpack (5-1, 2-1) for the seventh consecutive season.

9 Oklahoma 52, Texas Christian 27

Kyler Murray threw four touchdowns, Kennedy Brooks and Trey Sermon both had 100-yard rushing games with scores, and ninth-ranked Oklahoma 6-1, 3-1 Big 12) rebounded from its only loss this season, beating host Texas Christian (3-4, 1-3) for the third time in 11 months.

The Sooners won their 18th consecutive true road game, never trailing after scoring touchdowns on each of their first four drives in their first game since a loss to Texas two weeks ago.

18 Penn State 33, Indiana 28

Trace McSorley passed for 220 yards, ran for 107 and had a hand in three touchdowns in visiting Penn State’s 33-28 victory over Indiana.

Penn State (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) rallied to snap a two-game losing streak after Indiana (4-4, 1-4) took a 21-20 lead in the third quarter on Steve Scott’s 3-yard touchdown run.

Temple 24, 20 Cincinnati 17 Overtime

Anthony Russo threw a tying 20-yard touchdown pass with 49 second left to Brandon Mack and then a 25-yard touchdown to Isaiah Wright in overtime as host Temple (5-3, 4-0 American Athletic Conference) handed No. 20 Cincinnati (6-1, 2-1) its first loss.

Russo completed 20 for 41 passes for 237 yards, with three touchdown passes and three interceptions for the Owls (5-3, 4-0 American Athletic Conference). He led a seven-play, 75-yard drive in the closing minutes to tie the game with the touchdown pass to Mack.

23 Wisconsin 49, Illinois 20

Jonathan Taylor rushed for 159 yards, and Taiwan Deal ran for 111 yards and two touchdowns as No. 23 Wisconsin took advantage of five first-half turnovers and routed visiting Illinois.

Wisconsin (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten), which has won nine straight against Illinois (3-4, 1-3), had three interceptions and recovered two fumbles on the way to a 28-10 halftime lead. Alex Hornibrook, coming off an awful outing in a loss at Michigan last week, threw two touchdown passes and two interceptions.

Other Games

■ Darnell Woolfolk scored on a bruising 7-yard run up the middle in the second overtime, the sophomore quarterback Cam Thomas rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown in his first career start, and Army held off visiting Miami of Ohio, 31-30.

Army (5-2) remained unbeaten at home this season and extended its winning streak at Michie Stadium to 10 games. Miami (3-5) had won two straight and three of four after beginning the season with three straight losses.

■ Isaiah Bowser scored on a 5-yard run with just over eight minutes to play, and visiting Northwestern avoided a major letdown by converting two fourth-downs plays on the game-winning drive to defeat struggling Rutgers (1-7, 0-5 Big Ten), 18-15.

Bowser also scored on a 3-yard run, and Drew Luckenbaugh kicked a 23-yard field goal as the Wildcats (4-3, 4-1) won their third straight game by rallying from an eight-point third-quarter deficit. Clayton Thorson hit Flynn Nagel on a 2-point conversion pass after Bowser’s go-ahead run.

■ Tommy DeVito, in relief of a struggling Eric Dungey, hit tight end Ravian Pierce on a 4-yard scoring play in the second overtime, and Syracuse (5-2, 2-2 A.C.C.) defeated visiting North Carolina (1-5, 1-3), 40-37.

Syracuse appeared to be on its way to a third straight loss until DeVito’s heroics. North Carolina rallied from a 20-7 deficit to take a 27-20 lead with 10 minutes to go but dropped its third straight game.

■ Rashaad Cooper ran for 82 yards and a touchdown and visiting Dartmouth (6-0, 3-0) rolled to a 28-12 victory over Columbia. The Big Green remained unbeaten when Cooper capped a nine-play, 75-yard drive with an 8-yard TD run for a 14-6 lead.

Chris Alleyne kicked two field goals and Ryan Suitt connected with Ryan Young for a 10-yard TD with 18 seconds left in the game for the Lions (3-3, 0-3). Dartmouth piled up 250 yards on the ground, while holding Columbia to 86 yards rushing.

■ John Lovett ran for one touchdown and threw for another, leading Princeton (6-0, 3-0 Ivy League) to a 29-21 victory at Harvard (3-3, 1-2). Charie Volker added two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter for the Tigers, including the 49-yard clincher with just over two minutes left.

■ Dalton Banks threw for three touchdowns, and Cornell (3-3, 2-1 Ivy) beat host Brown (1-5, 0-3), 34-16. Banks had 265 yards passing for the Big Red.

■ Luke Samperi kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired, catapulting Bryant (5-2) to a 42-41 victory at Fordham (1-6).